Wednesday’s Top Stories

Wednesday’s Five Facts

[1] Albuquerque City councilors call out APD Twitter, Chief Medina responds – The Albuquerque Police Department is under scrutiny for its public information officer Twitter account. Councilors and citizens have criticized the account for being disrespectful. Now, the police chief is weighing in. He said they respond to make sure their officers are treated fairly and to help correct misinformation. He said the department will continue to push back but in a more informative manner moving forward. Councilors said they have brought this issue up to Chief Medina before. Medina said they did have the account dormant for a while but brought it back after getting attacked on crime statistics.

[2] Mother, son charged in southeast Albuquerque homicide – Kristina Withrow and her 18-year-old son, Kristian Crespin, are facing charges for the homicide of a woman near Zuni Rd. and San Mateo Blvd. According to a criminal complaint, Kristina claims she got into a dispute with another woman, gave a handgun to her son and told him to shoot toward the woman. Police say Crespin fired three shots and one of them struck the victim. Withrow was arrested and booked into Metropolitan Detention Center. Crespin was arrested Tuesday afternoon at an apartment in northeast Albuquerque. They have both been charged with murder and conspiracy.

[3] Chilly and breezy Wednesday, but warmer weekend – Temperatures will stay chilly Wednesday, and the wind will lighten up. We will see high temperatures that are 10 to 20 degrees colder than normal, only topping out in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Winds will gust up to around 20 to 25 mph this afternoon, coming in from the west/northwest. High clouds will push into southern and eastern NM. Beautiful weather is on the horizon, as temperatures climb daily through the weekend, and winds will be staying lighter through early next week.

[4] Tuition at UNM could increase by $500 in 2024 – University of New Mexico students could be paying more for their education. The UNM administration said it needs more money to increase safety, improve mental health services, and pay its employees more. The administration said they need more than $20 million in new funding and the budget they are considering for the next school year would not be possible without increasing tuition. If the proposal passes, students will see higher fees and a 3% tuition increase.

[5] New Transformer statue put up at Lomas & Fourth – A new transformer is standing guard at the intersection of Lomas and 4th in downtown Albuquerque. The Sunwest Silver Co. unveiled a new 14-foot statue of the “Bumblebee” Tuesday. The Autobot replaced the Iron Man that came down after a crash in February. Like Iron Man and other transformer statues, Bumblebee was made with scrap metal and recycled car parts.